"Then Pilate entered the
Praetorium again, called Jesus and
said to Him, 'Are you the King of the Jews'? ”
John 18: 33

Passover, the feast
of unleavened bread, was approaching. Herod’s
temple plaza of 144,000 square meters (1.5m. square
feet) -- the largest temple plaza in the ancient
world -- could accommodate 400,000 pilgrims.

Rejoicing may have started on the road up to
Jerusalem. Large caravans came overland from
Babylon. Ships brought pilgrims from Syria,
Asia Minor and North Africa. Galilean pilgrims were
known to sing psalms as they walked. While the
festive atmosphere started on the road, the true
feast came in Jerusalem.

As commanded in Deuteronomy 14, every Jew was to eat
at the Lord’s place – his grain, his new wine, his
oil and the firstborn of his herds and flocks.
However, if he came from far away, he could exchange
his produce for money and then spend that money on
whatever his heart desired, as long as the money was
spent in Jerusalem. (Wow – what a perk for Jerusalem
merchants!!)

“And you shall spend that money for whatever your
heart desires, you shall eat there before the Lord
your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your
household.” (Deuteronomy 14:26) The trip to
the Temple for Passover was the main feast of the
year and a kosher occasion for splurging.

Photo: Gila
Yudkin

The Dome of the Rock sits on the
site of Jerusalem's first century AD Temple

As the Jewish men
were busy selecting a choice male lamb to be
sacrificed in the Temple compound and the women busy
simmering matzo ball chicken soup (just kidding),
Pontius Pilate was making his preparations as well.

Photo: Gila
Yudkin

Pilate's palace on the shores of
the Mediterranean at Caesarea

Pilate left his
seaside villa at Caesarea on the Mediterranean where
he practiced his breast stroke daily in the
fresh-water swimming pool and rooted for the most
audacious chariot drivers in the hippodrome race
track on weekends. He harnessed his Ferrari
Chariot and headed for Jerusalem. Pilate was
afraid that such a large gathering of Jewish
pilgrims in one place might spark spontaneous riots
or even worse – a full scale rebellion. After
all, Passover was the festival commemorating Jewish
national liberation.

Seeing as King Herod Agrippa was also in town (Luke
23), Pontius and Mrs. Pilate most likely stayed at
the palace-fort called Antonia, at the NW corner of
the Temple Mount. It had been built 6 decades
earlier by Herod the great Judean builder so he
would be able to spy into the Temple courtyard and
perhaps even eavesdrop on the impassioned speeches
of soap-box preachers along Solomon’s Porticoes.

The Antonia fortress, probably the first of Herod’s
building projects, had a tower at each of its four
corners. One tower on the southeast corner was
70 cubits high which would be about 110 feet tall.
The main building of the Antonia was divided into
two wings, each with a courtyard enclosed by
two-storied porticoes. The historian Josephus
tells us that there were stairs leading down to the
Temple porticoes by which the guards descended.

Photo: Gila
Yudkin

Model of the Antonia fortress with
four towers (on right)

During the
festivals, the guards took armed positions around
the porticoes to watch the people and repress any
suspicious movement in the plaza. After all,
the Temple itself was the visible rallying point of
Judean loyalties. Josephus the first century
AD historian tells us that it was customary for the
Roman prefect or procurator to be in Jerusalem with
additional troops at Passover.

According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was taken to
the Praetorium after Pilate, wanting to gratify the
crowd, released Barabbas and delivered Jesus to be
crucified.

Then the soldiers led him away into the hall called
Praetorium and they called together the whole
garrison. And they clothed him with purple;
and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on his
head and began to salute him, “Hail, King of the
Jews!” (Mark 15: 16-18)

Many scholars believe that the Praetorium was part
of the Antonia fortress. That’s why the
Via Dolorosa
or the Way of the Cross starts by where the Antonia
once stood at the northwest corner of the Temple
plaza.

Today the Omariyyeh
Moslem elementary school is situated on the site of
the destroyed Antonia fort. On Fridays and
afternoons when classes have finished, it is
possible to climb up to the school and look out over
the Temple plaza as Pilate once would have done.
All you need is a slush fund for your group or about
five shekels per person.

Photo: Gila
Yudkin

Entrance to the Omariyyeh School,
on the site of the Antonia or Praetorium

As a photographer, I find it thrilling to take in an
unobstructed view of the Dome of the Rock and try to
imagine the scene in the eyes of the Roman governor
– a breathtaking gleaming white marble temple 16
stories high, surrounded by at least a hundred
thousand pilgrims waiting to make their sacrifices.
What a scene!

Photo: Gila
Yudkin

View of the Temple Mount from the Omariyyeh School

Come to Jerusalem and as we prepare to follow Jesus’
footsteps to Golgotha, we’ll imagine the Passover
scene from the Praetorium. Then exiting
Pilate’s Judgment Hall we hum, “Were
you there when they crucified my Lord?”

Copyright 2011 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse.

Gila
Yudkin, a Connecticut Yankee
guiding in King David’s court, has been
sharing biblical insights on site in the
Holy Land for over 30 years. To
celebrate a birthday milestone, she guided her own
family around her favorite place in Jerusalem – the
Temple Mount. On tour, Gila mixes fun, fantasy
and facts with passion for archeology and Bible.
Be sure to
contact her in the
beginning stages of planning your tour to check her
availability.

If you are contemplating leading a tour to
the Holy Land or know someone who is, don’t
miss Gila’s tips about do's and don'ts
guaranteed to make your Holy Land pilgrimage
a rave success. Read
Tips from A to Z for Holy
Land Tour Leaders.

Tour the Temple
Mount with
Gila's MP3
audio tour in the
company of Abraham and Isaac, David and Solomon,
Jesus and the disciples, the angel Gabriel and
Mohammed. Meet many other luminaries,
both real and legendary.

Now also available as a written 24-page PDF
with a Temple Mount plan,
guidelines for passing the security check and the ten
best reads on the Temple Mount
from Gila's bookshelves.

More on the Life of Jesus:

Where Mary met Elizabeth

1st C AD Bethsaida

Mount Arbel / Jesus'
ministry

Shepherds' Fields

Hippos / Decapolis city

Model of Jesus' Jerusalem

If you are an adventurer at heart and would
like to explore Jerusalem on your own, order
Gila’s up-to-date unorthodox guide, “Explore
Jerusalem’s Soul” with
suggestions of the top ten roof-top views,
the top ten inspiring places to study
Scripture, the ten least-known churches
worth visiting and the ten top restaurants
to sample Middle Eastern “soul-food.”

"Let's
imagine the Passover feast from the
Praetorium" (as text
without the photos) is one in the series of
free quarterly e-letters sent on request to
tour leaders, pastors, clergy, teachers,
Bible students, colleagues and friends.
If you'd like to receive "Holy Sites: Gila's
Highlights", please
contact
Gila.